Dynamics of galaxy cores and supermassive black holes

Merritt, David

doi:10.1088/0034-4885/69/9/r01

Cited by 104 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 395 publications

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“…In this case, the properties of the plasma and therefore its collisionality vary strongly along the temperature gradient affecting the plasma's transport properties [40]. On the side of gravitational systems, the dynamics in galaxy cores around massive central black holes is dominated by two-body encounters with low impact parameter [41,79], while in the rest of the galaxy the dynamics is collisionless over times of the order of the age of the Universe. In all these cases, a consistent numerical treatment is needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalous dynamical scaling in anharmonic chains and plasma models with multiparticle collisions

et al. 2015

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We study the anomalous dynamical scaling of equilibrium correlations in one-dimensional systems. Two different models are compared: the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain with cubic and quartic nonlinearity and a gas of point particles interacting stochastically through multiparticle collision dynamics. For both models-that admit three conservation laws-by means of detailed numerical simulations we verify the predictions of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics for the structure factors of density and energy fluctuations at equilibrium. Despite this, violations of the expected scaling in the currents correlation are found in some regimes, hindering the observation of the asymptotic scaling predicted by the theory. In the case of the gas model this crossover is clearly demonstrated upon changing the coupling constant.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalous dynamical scaling in anharmonic chains and plasma models with multiparticle collisions

et al. 2015

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“…If there is an SMBH with mass M BH at the galactic center, we can estimate its influence radius r inf by using the definition with stellar mass M (r r inf ) = 2M BH as in Merritt (2006) 6 :…”

Section: Galactic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes With Stars in Galactic Nuclei

Liu

Berczik

et al. 2012

ApJ

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Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are the products of frequent galaxy mergers. The coalescence of the SMBHBs is a distinct source of gravitational wave (GW) radiation. The detections of the strong GW radiation and their possible electromagnetic counterparts are essential. Numerical relativity suggests that the post-merger supermassive black hole (SMBH) gets a kick velocity up to 4000 km s −1 due to the anisotropic GW radiations. Here, we investigate the dynamical coevolution and interaction of the recoiling SMBHs and their galactic stellar environments with one million direct N-body simulations including the stellar tidal disruption by the recoiling SMBHs. Our results show that the accretion of disrupted stars does not significantly affect the SMBH dynamical evolution. We investigate the stellar tidal disruption rates as a function of the dynamical evolution of oscillating SMBHs in the galactic nuclei. Our simulations show that most stellar tidal disruptions are contributed by the unbound stars and occur when the oscillating SMBHs pass through the galactic center. The averaged disruption rate is ∼10 −6 M yr −1 , which is about an order of magnitude lower than that by a stationary SMBH at similar galactic nuclei. Our results also show that a bound star cluster is around the oscillating SMBH of about ∼0.7% the black hole mass. In addition, we discover a massive cloud of unbound stars following the oscillating SMBH. We also investigate the dependence of the results on the SMBH masses and density slopes of the galactic nuclei.

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“…Capture or tidal disruption of stars by the SBH is effectively a heat source, causing a nucleus to expand [89]; the time scale is of order ∼ T r (r h ) and depends on the sizes and masses of stars. If there is a range of stellar masses, the more massive stars will accumulate near the center, causing the stellar mass density profile to become more centrally peaked [11]. While the "steady-state" functional form for ρ χ (r), Eq.…”

Section: Dependence On Initial Conditions and Galaxy Agementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Supermassive black holes (SBHs) are believed to be generic components of galactic nuclei [10] and are expected to strongly influence the distribution of mass (stars, DM) at distances r h from the SBH [11], where r h is the gravitational influence radius, defined as the radius within which the gravitational force from the SBH dominates that from the stars. In the case of the Milky Way SBH, r h ≈ 3 pc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However the formation of such spikes requires finely-tuned initial con-ditions [15] and the spikes are easily destroyed [16,17]. Furthermore, the stars would react in the same was as the DM to spherically-symmetric growth of a SBH [11], and in the galaxies with long central relaxation times where steep stellar cusps could persist for 10 Gyr or longer, none are seen [11]. In such galaxies, stellar density profiles are typically flat at r r h , believed to be a consequence of the "scouring" effect of binary SBHs during galaxy mergers [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Collisionally regenerated dark matter structures in galactic nuclei

2007

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We show that the presence of a ρ ∼ r −3/2 dark matter overdensity can be robustly predicted at the center of any galaxy old enough to have grown a power-law density cusp in the stars via the Bahcall-Wolf mechanism. Using both Fokker-Planck and direct N -body integrations, we demonstrate collisional generation of these dark matter "crests" (Collisionally REgenerated STtructures) even in the extreme case that the density of both stars and dark matter were previously lowered by slingshot ejection from a binary supermassive black hole. The time scale for collisional growth of the crest is approximately the two-body relaxation time as defined by the stars, which is 10 Gyr at the centers of stellar spheroids with luminosities L 10 9.5 L⊙, including the bulge of the Milky Way. The presence of crests can robustly be predicted in such galaxies, unlike the steeper enhancements, called "spikes", produced by the adiabatic growth of black holes. We discuss special cases where the prospects for detecting dark matter annihilations from the centers of galaxy haloes are significantly affected by the formation of crests.

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Dynamics of galaxy cores and supermassive black holes

Abstract: Abstract. Recent work on the dynamical evolution of galactic nuclei containing supermassive black holes is reviewed. Topics include galaxy structural properties; collisionless and collisional equilibria; loss-cone dynamics; and dynamics of binary and multiple supermassive black holes.

Cited by 104 publications

References 395 publications

Anomalous dynamical scaling in anharmonic chains and plasma models with multiparticle collisions

Anomalous dynamical scaling in anharmonic chains and plasma models with multiparticle collisions

Interaction of Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes With Stars in Galactic Nuclei

Collisionally regenerated dark matter structures in galactic nuclei

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